Night.
In the deep forrest.
Where the wild things are.
There are no clouds in the sky and the air is still. Suddenly, a large shadow jumps through the trees, followed by several smaller, faster shadows. The large shadow stops in a clearing. It is big and formidable. The cold air forms clouds of breath around the monster's head. Its two large eyes glow with fury. It stands up and turns to face the smaller shadows that have gathered behind it.
"Shinigami!" it hisses. The monster lunges and moonlight glitters on cold polished steel.
The Death Gods all attack the hollow. Their battle grows fierce. The hollow reaches out and knocks out one of the Death Gods. The others come to the aid of their fallen comrade.
"He'll be okay," one of them says. "Let's finish this quickly." The others gather around and face the hollow.
"Heh. Come at me all you want. I'll kill you and eat your souls!" the hollow roared.
"Uh, let's think about this for a second," the one says, apparently the leader of the group.
"Eh?" the hollow cocks its head in confusion.
"We're shinigami, which means we're already spirits. Since spirits have no physical body, how are you going to kill us and then eat our souls?" the leader asked. The hollow said nothing, but stared stupidly.
"Hey, Lieutenant, your argument doesn't make much sense either," one whispered. The leader shrugged and replied, "Well, it sounded good in my head."
"The Captain is expecting us back soon," another spoke up.
"Right! Now let's finish this for real!" the lieutenant said and something shiny appeared in his other hand.
"Oh! This is very interesting," the hollow rumbled. "I've never seen anything like this before."
The lieutenant said nothing and ran at the hollow. The hollow reached for the lieutenant, but he stepped to the inside and cut off the hollow's arm. The hollow reared back and howled in agony. The lieutenant swept the hollow's legs and the hollow fell on its back. The hollow tried to get up, but the lieutenant pierced the hollow through the mask, pinning its head to the ground. The hollow dissolved into a cloud of blue spirit particles.
"Okay everyone, let's gather up our injured friend and head back," the lieutenant ordered. As the others picked up the injured, the lieutenant stabbed the air with his sword and twisted. A door appeared and opened, revealing a bright light. Several black butterflies floated out. The others went through the gate first, leaving the lieutenant alone. He glanced up at the moon and smiled, then passed through the gate. The door shut behind him and disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence.
The young lieutenant knocked on the door. When a voice said to enter, he did so and shut the door behind him. Before him stood an older man with long white hair. He was very pale and seemed sickly, which he was. "So how did it go?" the Captain asked his Lieutenant.
"Well, it went very well. We were able to locate and dispatch the hollow quickly. Only one casualty and he should be out of the Relief Station soon," the Lieutenant reported.
"Very good," Captain Ukitake said. He turned and picked up some papers off his desk. "Do you still regret my decision?" he asked.
"Not really," the lieutenant replied.
"Well it seems you've made quite an impression on the rest of the squad, including the younger members," Captain Ukitake said.
Shane Akiyama sighed and cleaned his glasses on his robe. He'd been the lieutenant of Squad 13 for barely a month and things were rapidly changing for the better. Captain Ukitake handed him a piece of paper. Shane accepted the note and read it. "What's this all about?" he asked.
"I believe it has something to do with Aizen and the Hougyoku." Ukitake explained. "With a device such as the Hougyoku, Aizen could create an army capable of destroying Soul Society."
"Destroy Soul Society?" Shane asked in awe. "But why? What could he gain from that?"
"Before he was taken to Hueco Mundo, Aizen mentioned stepping up to take God's place in Heaven," Ukitake said.
Shane put his hand to his chin and thought. "Could it be?" he wondered outloud. Ukitake waited for Shane to clarify. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
"If the Hougyoku is as powerful as you say, then why stop at destroying Soul Society? Why not use the full power of the Hougyoku and attempt to overthrow the King?"
"What did you say?" Ukitake asked. "How do you know about that?"
Shane stepped back and his eyes went wide. "Oops. Was I not supposed to know about that?" he asked. Ukitake became stern and Shane sighed. "I was doing research on some random subject and I came across a document. Well, I did some digging," Ukitake crossed his arms. "Okay, a lot of digging and I learned of the King of Soul Society."
"What did you learn?" Ukitake asked.
"Nothing much, just the fact that he exists," Shane admitted.
Ukitake sighed. "I can't fault you for being curious. That's one of the reasons you are my Lieutenant. But next time you get the urge to do some 'research' come and ask me."
"I'll be leaving now," Shane said hurriedly and left.
Shane arrived in the Real World wearing his old SMC uniform. Since the nature of his mission was gathering information, he didn't want to be seen. As soon as he landed, Shane put his hands together and uttered, "Tsukuyomi New Moon Technique." He became like a shadow and lowered his Spirit Power output to near zero. He was now invisible.
Shane jumped from place to place, checking for things out of the ordinary. Just then, a bright light appeared in the sky and crashed to earth. Shane immediately felt a powerful, but unfamiliar spirit power. Just then, his phone rang.
"Akiyama, we've just received a report that Arrancar have been located. Please investigate," Ukitake said. "Be careful. The initial report suggests these Arrancar are very powerful."
"Will do sir," Shane replied and hung up. "That was a very intense Spirit Power," he thought. "Just how powerful are these Arrancar? Is this Aizen's doing?" Shane jumped off to find the source.
Shane came to a large field and saw a large crater in the center. He watched from a tree as people began to investigate. It's not a meteor, Shane thought. He watched as a humanoid figure walked out of the crater and suddenly drew in a very deep breath. Shane heard the rushing of wind and people began falling over for no apparent reason. "He's sucking out their spirits!" Shane gasped. "He's certainly a type of powerful Hollow."
After a long time, the sucking stopped. Shane looked around and was saddened by all the innocent people who had lost their lives. "Curiosity killed the humans," he said sadly. He looked back to the crater and saw a second person appear and began talking to the other. Shane crept closer to investigate.
The taller one had tanned skin and was bald with two ridges on his head. A long pony tail was tied in the back and his sideburns ran down his face and met what looked like the lower jaw of a skull. His shirt was open in the front, revealing a large hole in his powerful chest. He also wore a sword at his side.
The other, shorter one was very pale and had green lines under his eyes that ran down his face. Half of his head was covered with black hair, the other half covered by a helmet-looking cover with one horn that stuck out the side. His long outer jacket was unzipped to his chest, revealing a hole in his neck. This one also wore a sword. The taller one was complaining about the quality of souls he'd just eaten to the smaller. So, these are Arrancar, Shane thought. He decided to name them Big and Small.
"So, how many humans do we have to kill?" Big asked.
"Just one," Small replied. Shane frowned. Does he mean Ichigo? Is Aizen that afraid of Ichigo's power or is he merely removing obstacles that might get in his way later?
Shane noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and saw a dark haired girl wearing a karate gi trying to move. What is Tatsuki doing here?
Unfortunately, the Arrancar had noticed as well. Big moved to take care of Tatsuki. Shane frantically thought of what he should do. He'd never seen Tatsuki so petrified from fear before and made a note never to ask her about it.
Big began talking and mentioned his Soul Sucker didn't seem to work on Tatsuki. So that's what he was doing, Shane thought and made a mental note.
Big seemed disappointed that Tatsuki wasn't the one they were looking for and brought his massive leg back to kick Tatsuki. Before Shane could act, Chad had jumped in the way and blocked Big's kick.
"Ulquiorra is this him?" Big called out. Shane frowned and made a note of that also. Small's name is Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra answered Big's question. Shane didn't catch all of the reply, but he heard the name "Yami." Big's name is Yami.
Orihime grabbed Tatsuki and moved away. Chad went to attack Yami, but Yami knocked him aside with a sweep of his big arm. Shane cringed and figured Chad's arm was broken in several places. Shane hesitated. He wanted to show himself and help his friends, but his mission was to gather information. After another second of agonizing deliberation, Shane decided to stay hidden, figuring Ichigo would show up sooner or later. Sooner, I hope.
Angry as he was for the careless disregard of human life and his friends, Shane maintained focus and carefully watched the two Arrancar and noted mannerisms and personality characteristics.
Yami is loud and somewhat dense, but very powerful. Retard strength perhaps? Ulquiorra is staying back, letting Yami do all the fighting. He seems quiet, very intelligent. He displays no emotion and his voice is always even. Seems very cold and detached. He must have been sent here to gather information and Yami is simply tagging along, Shane deduced.
Yami moved to attack Orihime and she used her special shield. Shane frowned. "Orihime's power is very different from Death Gods or Hollows. If she shows them too much, they might take an interest in her," Shane thought. Yami broke Orihime's shield and moved to attack her again, when Shane felt a familiar spirit power suddenly arrive.
"Ichigo!" Orihime exclaimed.
"Sorry I'm late," Ichigo apologized. "Please back up." Orihime backed away and Ichigo uttered, "Bankai."
Shane's eyes grew wide with the explosion of spirit power. So Ichigo has achieved Bankai. Interesting. He then frowned. Ichigo's spirit power feels rough and chaotic. I thought with Bankai, one's spirit power would feel different. Is something wrong with Ichigo?
Yami asked Ulquiorra if this was the one they were looking for and Ulquiorra indicated yes. So they were after Ichigo, Shane thought and made another note. Ichigo began fighting with Yami and seemed to have the upper hand, even cutting off Yami's arm. Yami howled in protest and reached for his sword. Ulquiorra mentioned "using your Soul Slayer" and Shane arched an eye brow. Arrancar have Soul Slayers? What are their abilities? But then, something happened. Ichigo stopped and clutched his face. His spirit power began to fluctuate wildly. "What's this?" Shane wondered. "Why is Ichigo's spirit power suddenly going crazy?" Yami took advantage of the situation and began beating Ichigo to a pulp. Shane's eyes narrowed and he fought to keep his anger in check. Orihime ran to help Ichigo, but Yami backhanded her and she went flying. Shane's anger spiked and Ulquiorra quickly glanced at the trees. "What was that faint spike of spirit power?" Ulquiorra wondered.
Shane fought to keep his anger under control. He could hear a small voice whispering in the back of his mind. kill them hurt them they hurt your friends you must hurt them back angry cause them pain yes hurt them kill them...
Shane closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. The small voice went away, but its suggestions lingered in Shane's mind.
Meanwhile, Yami had grabbed Ichigo by the head and flung him to the ground. He raised his remaining fist in the air, intending to crush Ichigo's skull. When the dust cleared, Ichigo was very much alive, thanks to the arrival of Urahara and Yoruichi. Shane decided to remain hidden and watch what happened. Yami tried to crush Urahara and Yoruichi, but they used flash steps to separate. Yoruichi then began to beat Yami. She's so cool, Shane couldn't help but smile. With a final axe kick from ten feet above, Yami was knocked out. Yoruichi suddenly flinched and slowly walked to Orihime. What was that about? Shane thought. Ulquiorra did nothing but watch.
Yami got up and opened his mouth. A ball of red energy appeared. "Cero?" Shane thought. There was a large explosion and before the dust cleared, Shane could still feel their sprit power. Urahara had saved them. He attacked Yami again with a sudden release of energy from his Soul Slayer. Before Yami could be harmed, Ulquiorra stepped in and easily deflected the blast skyward with his bare hand.
Ulquiorra backhanded Yami in the gut. Yami fell to the ground sputtering and saying something to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra said something back that Shane didn't catch, and opened a portal back to Hueco Mundo. He and Yami stepped inside and the portal closed, leaving them standing there.